Monday, April 22, 2013

TSA Week in Review: 35 Firearms Discovered Last Week – 26 Loaded

35Firearms
Discovered Last Week – of the 35 firearms, 26 were loaded and 10 had rounds
chambered. See a complete list and more photos at the bottom of this post.

Novelty Grenade (ATL)

Inert
Ordnance and Grenades etc. - We continue to find inert hand grenades and other
weaponry on weekly basis. Please keep in mind that if an item looks like a
realistic bomb, grenade, mine, etc., it is prohibited - real or not. When these
items are found at a checkpoint or in checked baggage, they can cause
significant delays in checkpoint screening. I know they are cool novelty items,
but you cannot bring them on a plane. Read here and here on why inert items cause problems.

Three
inert grenades were discovered last week. Two were in carry-on bags at Atlanta
(ATL), and Guam (GUM), and the other was in checked baggage at Las Vegas (LAS).

Stun Gun (IAD)

Stun
Guns
– 16 stun guns were discovered last week in carry-on bags around the nation.
Six were discovered at San Francisco (SFO), two at Seattle (SEA), and the
others at Atlanta (ATL), Las Vegas (LAS), Lihue (LIH), Long Beach (LGB),
Phoenix (PHX), Raleigh-Durham (RDU), Sacramento (SMF), and Washington Dulles
(IAD).

Items in the Strangest Places –It’s important to
examine your bags prior to traveling to ensure no prohibited items are inside. If a
prohibited item is discovered in your bag, you could be cited and quite
possibly arrested by local law enforcement. Here are a few examples from this
week where prohibited items were found in strange places.

A 3 ½” knife was discovered
concealed in a toothbrush holder at Lihue (LIH).

A 3” knife was discovered concealed
inside a shoe at Washington Dulles (IAD).

Unfortunately these sorts of occurrences are all too frequent which is why
we talk about these finds. Sure, it’s great to share the things that our
officers are finding, but at the same time, each time we find a dangerous item,
the throughput is slowed down and a passenger that likely had no ill intent
ends up with a citation or in some cases is even arrested. The passenger can
face a penalty as high as $7,500.00. This is a friendly reminder to
please leave these items at home. Just because we find a prohibited item on an
individual does not mean they had bad intentions, that's for the law
enforcement officer to decide. In many cases, people simply forgot they had these
items.

*In order to provide a timely weekly update, I compile my data from a
preliminary report. The year-end numbers will vary slightly (increase) from
what I report in the weekly updates. However, any monthly, midyear, or
end-of-year numbers TSA provides on this blog or elsewhere will not be
estimates.

21 comments:

I'd like to know what penalties were incurred for each of these offences. I can expect a novelty item to be minor, with no fines imposed; but I'd like to see how the outrageous individuals that try to carry loaded handguns or specifically concealed knives through are handled.This brings to mind, for all those that are found, how many may go through. Scary!

I really have a hard time undersstanding how a person can forget that they have a gun in their luggage, much less that it is loaded or loaded and chambered. It's not like you forgot some shoes or jewelry to unpack. Safety is always a first for a gun owner-this is not a responsible owner! Anyone could have access, including a child!!

I have been working in a Security field for more then Six Years, and I am very pleased with my career, I truly believe that I'm protecting my Country United State of America. Due that there are some many criminal minds out there, I will donate my time and I will report any suspicious movements, upon God I trust...

Bert Matt said...I have been working in a Security field for more then Six Years, and I am very pleased with my career, I truly believe that I'm protecting my Country United State of America. Due that there are some many criminal minds out there, I will donate my time and I will report any suspicious movements, upon God I trust...

I agree that they should know where there stuff is, but here's how one guy tried to bring 3 magazines full of ammo in a backpack through the checkpoint. He had used the backpack as a range bag 6 months prior and missed the 3 magazines when cleaning out the bag. The scanner picked up the magazines and the passenger was sidelined. He apologized several times throughout the process. Local law enforcement confiscated the mags and ammo and the passenger continued. Important security tip--don't use your luggage as range bags. Was he a terrorist? No, but it did grind the screening process to a halt while TSA, the deputy, and I determined that. Common sense people--it takes time to sort out what the sitiuation is, and that time causes delayed flights.

I surprised the the number of snide comments/questions that appear every week. I do understand that some people don't agree with the cost/benefit efficacy of TSA procedures. I think the TSA is doing a difficult job well. Thanks for posting the details every week.

Anonymous said...AE said...Um, "Annonymous", how do you know that those found with firearms WEREN'T terrorists? Just sayin'

So, your position is that the TSA simply...lets terrorists go?? Great.

What else are they supposed to do with them, as I'm sure they have no real SOP for if they actually find one, especially if that one is a suicide bomber intent on attacking the checkpoint. The former TSAgent over at TakingSenseAway suggests running away as fast as they can.

Bill of the stolen knife; did you file a claim with the airline? I should HOPE the there is video of bagage openings. If by the TSA, you should have found a printed notice inside your bag, but if your complaint is true, maybe there was no note.